


Hidden Pain

by thesleepingsiren



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 14:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11876679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesleepingsiren/pseuds/thesleepingsiren
Summary: August 18th was a day of happy and sad, but all Percy can seem to think about is the negative. When his friends find him at his worst, heartfelt moments ensue. One-shot inspired by 'Nine Times Percy Saved a Friend.'





	Hidden Pain

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is a random one-shot that popped into my mind. It's inspired by 'Nine Times Percy Saved A Friend' by Liana Legaspi, their's much better so check it out. The title is bad, but I couldn't think of anything better. Please review if you enjoy, and I have a few ideas for a second chapter so tell me if you want me to write it!

August 12th

“Percy!” Chiron called, gesturing for Percy to come over. It hurt Chiron to ask something of one of his favorite students, especially one who had been through so much. “A couple of the gods have recommended using guns as a weapon, for those like yourself who are challenged with a bow and arrow. They’d like for you to be the tester.”  
Percy guffawed. “You’re not serious. We know I’m terrible at long ranged weapons—”   
“Which, as I said, is why they'd like you to test it.” Chiron continued, handing him some sort of gun—Percy didn’t know which kind.  
“Okay.” Percy agreed testing the gun’s weight in his hand. “Is there a safe place where I can practice, you know, without hurting anyone?”  
Chiron smiled. “Yes. There’s a black button at the archery range that turns it into a gun range.” Before Percy could ask, Chiron answered. “No, I don’t know how it’s possible; Hecate created it, that I know.” Percy nodded. “Alright, I’ll practice today.” The son of Poseidon chose his words carefully as he could feel his heart rate quickening and his hands starting to lose grip on the weapon in his hand.  
He walked back to his cabin, splashing some water on his face. He felt a rush of power as the water reached his skin, but it did nothing to calm his fears.  
Tartarus had changed everyone who had traversed the land; Nico, Percy and Annabeth were left with terrorizing nightmares.  
Percy hoped that the others’ weren’t as bad as his. They were about every other night, some better than others and some worse. He could survive those. The worst part of it all was seeing Annabeth—or anyone of his friends—hurt. Knowing everyday that he was susceptible to lose his mind, for anyone to notice that his mask was a lie.  
Luckily, Chiron turned a blind eye when Annabeth had to stay in Percy’s cabin to get any sort of rest, and even on the occasion that Will slipped into the Hades’ cabin to calm his boyfriend.  
Percy knew Annabeth’s nightmares were getting better; she snuck in much less often. Nico had found solace (not pun intended) in his boyfriend’s presence, and as far as Percy knew, his nightmares had subsided.  
He shoved the gun is his dresser drawer, running his hands through his hair. He had six days until his birthday; six days until he and Annabeth’s anniversary; six days until the anniversary of the day he should have died.  
Percy couldn’t seem to get it out of his head. He was supposed to be dead. Why did it have to be Luke? Beckendorf? Silena? Ethan? Michael? Zoë? Bianca? How many had to die for him?  
It was painful. All he wanted to do was talk to Annabeth about it, but she had enough on her plate already.  
He would just have to endure it.

August 15th

Annabeth’s nightmares had subsided, which made putting a smile on his face a lot easier. Percy’s bouts of panic were getting worse. He was fiercely protective of every single one of his friends, which they had noticed.  
He had, surprisingly, become quite proficient with a gun, and was occasionally talking to Chiron about adding it to the campers’ training.  
He kept telling himself that he was fine, that he had it under control. But he had been clumsier than usual with his powers, something he refused to notice. Ever since the incident in Tartarus, he was afraid of what he could do.  
But Annabeth was fine, so he convinced himself that he could be too.

August 18th - 12:01AM

“Happy birthday.” Percy said to himself, his tone bland. He buried his head in his hands, taking a deep breath. He fiddling with Riptide when he decided on impulse to uncap it.  
The celestial bronze blade was cool against his skin, crimson dripping. He found it calming, much like watching the water.  
By the time he had realized what he was doing his sword arm had more blood than he would have liked. He ran to his sink and washed his arm, the scars turning into small white lines littering his skin.   
He sat back down on his bed, knowing that he would be unable to sleep for the night. After a few minutes he decided to take a shower, then he went back to sitting eerily still on his bed.

August 18th - 7:06AM

The seven, Nico, Thalia, Grover and Reyna were standing outside of Cabin Three’s door, ready to surprise their friend on his birthday. Hazel had baked a blue cake, and Leo held blue balloons.  
What they didn’t expect to see when they walked in was Percy, holding a gun they didn’t know he had to his head.  
Hazel dropped the cake; the balloons floated to the ceiling. The two time savior of Olympus was vulnerable and had tears pouring out of his eyes.  
Annabeth spoke first. “Percy?” She croaked, and he cried harder. Jason, ever the Roman, wanted to get the gun away from his friend, and kept a close eye on him. Leo felt like he was about to lose his mom all over again. Piper wanted to cry, knowing even her charmspeaking power couldn't solve this problem. Hazel, Frank and Reyna had nearly the same thoughts: where had they been when Percy had been like this. Nico and Thalia couldn’t believe that their strong cousin was holding a deadly weapon to his head. Grover felt that he should have been there for his best friend.  
Annabeth was the worst of them all. She didn’t know he was struggling, he had never told her. What kind of girlfriend was she if she wasn’t there for her boyfriend?  
Everything was crashing down for Percy; his friends knew that he was in pain.  
“Percy, put the gun down, please.” Piper pleaded, no charmspeak in her voice.  
“Don’t Piper.” He said, his voice shaking. “I wasn’t going to pull the trigger, anyway.”  
“Please, Percy. Just put it down and we can talk.” Annabeth said, tears slipping out of her eyes.  
Percy softened at Annabeth’s voice, and the gun dropped from his hand. Jason quickly snatched it up, hiding it from the son of Poseidon. Annabeth held Percy as he sobbed into her neck, his friends crowding around him.  
They all saw the white lines littering his arm, but didn’t say anything about it. “Percy, just tell us what happened.”  
“They all died because of me. All of them. Zoë, Beckendorf, Michael, Silena, Ethan, Luke, Bianca,” Nico winced at his sister’s name. “All of them. It’s my fault. I should be dead. I don’t deserve to live.”  
“Percy, none of them think it was your fault. They died to save us all, so we could live—so we didn’t have to be subjected to the Titans or the Giants torture.” Nico said, voice shaking.  
“I could have saved them.” Percy mumbled, but they could all hear it.  
Reyna looked at the former praetor. “No, you couldn’t have. Do not take away their sacrifice by blaming it on yourself.”  
“Percy, we’re here for you.” Jason reassured. “You aren't alone. I’ll take some time off form working on the statues in New Rome, to stay here.”  
Before Percy could protest, everyone agreed, even if they had responsibilities elsewhere. It only made Percy cry harder. “You don’t have to—”  
“Percy, we love you.” Hazel smiled weakly, and the others nodded in agreement.  
“We’ll always be here for you.” Thalia added, to which the group bobbed their heads in confirmation.  
Percy cried harder, and the group piled into a group hug. “Thank you.”  
“Now come on, we’re all going swimming.” Thalia said, postponing talking to her mistress to tell her that she was taking a vacation, this was much more important.  
The crowd walked out of Cabin Three, puffy and tear stained eyes, laughing through tears as they all jumped into the water.  
It wasn't okay—and they knew that. It might not be okay for a while, but they would be together through it all.


End file.
